With the exponential expansion of the internet as a source and provider of knowledge, it is important to consider how sustainable it actually is. Reisch (2001) questioned whether the innovation of the internet will help overcome environmental and social quandaries or will it simply fuel the mass consumption system? The internet brings its own form of wealth and class divisions and desirability to have access. With this mass ideology it will be incredibly difficult to meet exponential demand, considering also global business’ need to maintenance costs. There must be a balance of achieving awareness through the internet taking into consideration at times the fundamentalist approach – for the sake of the environment!
Whilst the demand for electricity is a primary concern, a secondary result of the eruption of internet use is that the computer industry’s carbon debt is increasing drastically. From having a relatively small impact just a few years ago; it’s now surpassing other sectors like the airline industry that are notorious for their negative environmental impact, (Johnson, 2009).
Friederiszick et al. (2011) suggest net neutrality regulation has the potential to rearrange resources amongst industry participants, influencing pricing strategies and finally impact investment and innovation incentives. If implemented this will affect which business models are effective and which will become obsolete. Friederiszick et al. propose some likely sustainable solutions, an encouraging step towards resolving the demand for increasing bandwidth and congestion of the net.
One company trying to make a positive contribution to the sustainability of the web is the Dutch company Cleanbits, (2006). From 2006 till October 2012 they sold green energy for servers and sites that were grey hosted through their web shop. Because of the growth of the green Internet (around January 1, 2013 roughly 17-20% of all sites worldwide are green hosted) it is possible now for almost all site-owners to move their business to a green hoster if they would want to. By having the Cleanbits logo on a website, it represents digital activities being CO₂ neutral. Cleanbits also has a search engine that tells you whether the website is carbon neutral. YouTube however is not, and is now the internet’s third biggest website, one that requires a heavy subsidy from Google its owner. Although the site’s financial details are kept under wraps, an analysis in 2009 by Credit Suisse suggested it could lose as much as $470m (£317m) for that year, as it succumbs to the high price of delivering power-intensive videos over the internet.
With more than 1.5 billion people online around the world, scientists estimate that the energy footprint of the net is growing by more than 10% each year. This leaves many internet companies caught in a predicament: energy costs are escalating because of their increasing popularity, whilst at the same time, advertising revenues are under pressure from the recession, (Johnson, 2009). This problem will have to come to some conclusion soon either through neutrality regulation or other means, at the expense of company finances or everyone’s environment.
References
Cleanbits (2006) http://Cleanbits.net (accessed 18th March 2013).
Friederiszick, H.W., Kałużny, J., Kohnz, S., Grajek, M. and Röller, L.H. (2011) Assessment of a sustainable Internet model for the near future. ESMT White Paper No. WP–11–01.
Johnson, B. (2009) Web providers must limit carbon footprint, say experts. http://www.guardian.couk/technology/2009/may/03/internet-carbon-footprint (accessed 18th March 2013).
Reisch, L.A. (2001) The Internet and Sustainable Consumption: Perspectives on a Janus Face. Journal of Consumer Policy. 24 (3): 251-286.
Technology In Activism 